We all love a good backstory. Learning about the beginnings of a particular character, whether real or fictional, seems to be a perpetually popular theme in cinema, literature, and other outlets for storytelling. Well, Halloween night is often a great place to start since its festivities encourage all of us to step into the shoes of someone other than yourself. Besides the traditional monsters, witches, or ghouls, children (and adults who are young at heart) across the world see how they can interpret their own hero or heroine, icon, celebrity, or favorite imaginary personality. In doing so, we add to that character’s story in our own way and share our interests for the world to see. My son chose to dress up as one of his favorite classic old-timey cartoon characters. His idea has been a wish for more than one Halloween by now, and this was the year I finally was able to help such a thought become a reality!
Here I resent to you a young Popeye, the sailor with the power of leafy greens in his forearms. I find it hilariously ironic that, to go around and collect candy, he was walking around the neighborhood with a can of Popeye branded spinach! My son is fascinated and greatly entertained by Popeye stories, no matter how short in they are in length or random in subject. My boy never fails to become glued to the television whenever we see Popeye show up on the cartoon channel. I love the animation style and respect the alternative approach to topics as presented by Fleischer Studios, anyways, while the awkward muttering but frank character of Popeye is a curiosity to me. After all, I had an old 1930s era sailor shirt pattern that was calling out to me from my pattern drawers. Using a vintage pattern was the perfect way to appropriately resurrect this vintage cartoon character for my boy to enjoy. I am so happy to see him rock his mom’s sewing for a costume that was meaningful to him.
On a personal level, dressing up for Halloween can be about more than just the outfit you put on. Since my son is a skinny boy who can find himself on the receiving end of bullies’ bad tendencies, it’s no wonder he felt happy and confident as Popeye for Halloween. Popeye was a character who stands up to bullies, defends his friends, and helps those in need…all with wry but positive attitude. My little guy is a good kid who tries to put such qualities into practice, too. Thus, I thoroughly enjoyed enabling my son take the persona of Popeye for the night (complete with faux wooden pipe he carved and theme song to perform). He made everyone who saw him for the night smile and laugh, which was wonderful to see. The clothes you wear do have meaning and significance, even if they are just a costume.
This is the first 1930s era sewing I have done for my boy, but not the only pattern for him from that decade in my stash! Hopefully, there will be another Depression era project for him yet to come. However, more than to just satisfy my own accounting, there is a special implication to the fact I am using a vintage pattern from circa 1934 for this project. The year before, in 1933, Fleischer Studio licensed E.C. Segar‘s comic strip character Popeye the Sailor and begin offering him in animated cartoon form through Paramount Pictures. In 1934, the original character of Popeye was toned down by his cartoonist from being a foul-mouthed irascible sailor, to the lovable curmudgeon he is now known to be…and the rest is history.
The real life person who was the inspiration behind the character of Popeye was Frank “Rocky” Fiegel, a tough laborer from Chester, Illinois who was always using his boxing know-how when getting in fights. The American cartoonist best known as the creator of Popeye, E. C. Segar, was born in Chester, Illinois back in 1894, and drew his inspiration from characters and places he watched within the quaint town. Chester is familiar to us since we drive through there on our way to the historical Fort de Chartres for their annual 18th century reenactments (posted both here and here). We also visited Chester, Illinois for an especially memorable outing to see four whole minutes of the total solar eclipse on April 8 this year. I love that we have a personal connection to Popeye’s “hometown” and have found an authentic way to interpret the very beginning of his popularity in 1934.
Popeye was the most popular series the Fleischer Studio ever produced, and by 1938 it was reported to have surpassed Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse cartoons in popularity. Popeye remained a staple of entertainment for nearly 25 years, until the episode Spooky Swabs from 1957 was the last of the 125 famous shorts in the series. However, fans of the cartoon have never forgotten the spinach loving sailor. Now, in March of 2024, it had been announced that a new live action Popeye film is apparently in the works, as announced by Variety Magazine. Popeye is a character appreciated by many generations, and my boy seems to be proof that affection is showing no signs of waning.
THE FACTS:
FABRIC: two all-cotton white sateen pillowcases
PATTERN: Simplicity #1509, an original year 1934 pattern from my personal stash. The NRA seal on the front envelope means this could be from 1933, but as this pattern’s Wiki page says that Simplicity #1509 was featured in the Pattern Magazine for November-December 1934, that is the year I am sticking to here.
NOTIONS: Nothing but thread was needed
TIME TO COMPLETE: The actual cutting out and sewing of the shirt took me only 3 hours from start to finish, yet this was only due to the precise tailoring and re-sizing of the tissue paper copies I traced out beforehand (more on this later) which took me two hours. Thus, let’s say this was 5 hours in total.
THE INSIDES: The collar (as seen in the picture at left) is bias bound, and the rest of the edges are cleanly finished by some tight zig-zag stitching.
TOTAL COST: Nothing! I had bought the two pillowcases for his shirt years ago on a deep discount when a department store was closing (back in 2011, I estimate). We have never used them since then…and thus I am counting this as free after all this time.
True to the spirit of Halloween, this costume was cobbled together with items from on hand. As I just mentioned in “The Facts”, two new fine sateen pillowcases, stored away and forgotten for many years, were the absolute perfect source for a fine quality costume. This shirt still needed to be worth its salt to be convincing, and it needed to be made well to be up to my standards for my own sewing. I wanted this to be a white shirt that was nice enough to be mostly opaque, and the thick cotton of these pillowcases were better than any material I may have found in a fabric store. The sateen shine looks so fine in person, elevating this above a costume. After all, the humble pillowcase as a source for fashioning clothing is not to be overlooked or disdained. I have previously made several successful projects with pillowcases (a top and a bag is posted here, while a pet snuggle sack is posted here). Let’s recall that the great American designer Todd Oldham produced his first fashion design at the age of 9 using only pillowcases to make a dress for his sister. The fabric we sleep upon can become unexpectedly useful in other ways…and not just for Halloween!
I am counting on my son wearing his sailor shirt to a World War II re-enactment months from now, which is yet another reason I wanted it to be high quality as well as generally authentic to history. It didn’t take much searching for me to find out what an authentic WWII Navy issued item looked like. They are simple enough in design that this 1930s sailor shirt was easy to tweak to match. My dad does have an original naval uniform for me to inspect in person, however it is a blue woolen version issued for temperate zones. I was recreating an all-white “undress” (general duty) Pacific Theater uniform for my son. Popeye cartoons adopted very patriotic themes once the United States became involved in WWII and it was clearly reflected by a change in the main character’s clothes. Popeye began wearing the white cotton service uniform and was correspondingly placed in stories where the settings were on warm and tropical islands, or serving on a vessel out in the Pacific Ocean. To complete the look of my son’s naval themed Popeye costume, he is wearing a true original WWII hat as well as an original satin neckerchief, both items borrowed from my dad’s personal collection of military memorabilia. There is nothing as exciting as being able see a bit of history be enjoyed by the younger generation.
I realize that, in imitating a cartoon, the depiction of garments is general and not detail specific. Nevertheless, the theme is definite. I can easily find a sailor shirt to match since the style does not generally stray far from its military references. Beginning in the First World War, it was popular to dress children in mini knock-off versions of adult military styles. This continued to be poplar for the next few decade after the 1910s, and World War II only (briefly) revived such styles. Simplicity Pattern Company actually re-released #1509 in 1937, then offered another version of this pattern (under same number even) in the late 1940s. The cover illustration was updated as well as the proportions of the collar and fit, yet this proves just how popular the sailor style shirt must have been for kids! After the 1950s, men and women began to adopt sailor styles, associating the look with leisure culture and not being necessarily military or ocean oriented. No matter what, I can’t get over how this is such a cute look on him!! I am glad it was Popeye’s influence which gave me the opportunity to see my son in a sailor shirt.
With the expectation that he may wear this again to a re-enactment in the spring, I did my normal forward thinking adjustment of adding additional length to both the sleeves and hem with a little spare wearing ease. Unless I am short on fabric, as was the case especially for this shirt (posted here), I always try to help his handmade clothes at least accommodate his vertical growth pattern. However, as this is a tunic with no closures, a slip-over-the-head shirt does need extra wiggle room anyways. After witnessing my husband’s “fight” to squirm into an authentic WWII naval tunic (see it on him here), I did not want to carry over that torture to my son. Being stuck and feeling helpless either getting in or out of your clothes is a frustrating, scary experience. Even with the extra wearing ease added, I still have to help my son in and out of the tunic so he doesn’t bust a seam in frustration. With the liberal use of knits for pullover shirts today, we forget that such effortless dressing was not always the case. I wonder how many sailors needed the help of their bunk mates to help them in or out of their military tunics?!
I enlisted my son to trace out the original tissue pattern onto sheer medical tissue paper so I could be free to adjust the design as necessary. If he wanted this costume in the first place, he needed to help me! I taught him a few pointers along the way about reading unprinted patterns such as this one. He rose to the task he was given of being helpful, attentive, and precise with his work. He is at a sweet spot in life where he is still a kid, but also old enough to learn life skills. I am happy to see him getting quite proficient at hand sewing, cross-stitching, and attaching buttons. There is no better way to understand a new skill more than diving right into it, and getting a grip on patterns (with me as his teacher) is a good way to set the foundations for him to learn the next steps soon enough.
There are many original copies of Simplicity #1509 still available to buy through online sellers, and so my thorough critique may become quite helpful to someone. The pattern itself ran unusually large. The pattern I had was supposed to be for a 6 year old, but the chart was showing bodily measurement numbers very close to my son’s current chest and neck size. I know he is a skinny boy, but he is also 12! It is very remarkable that I did not supplement all that much width or length considering that this is for a child half his age. I only had to add in one inch (both widthwise and lengthwise) to the shirt front, shirt back, and shoulder placket pattern pieces. Then I adjusted the sleeves to match. There was not as much re-sizing work to do as was expected on my end after doing a tissue fit on his body. So weird! As wonky as the sizing may be to this pattern, at least the envelope’s chart measurements obviously did not lie.
Nevertheless, I did do a bunch of minor tweaks to match this pattern to true naval tunics, as mentioned above. I evened out the tapered shirt hem, extended the collar to be a full flap from behind, and eliminated the front button placket closure. These were simple to do since the pattern itself was basic. There wasn’t a facing called for in the instructions for the neckline, so I followed the pattern and used bias tape along the edges for an easy and quick solution (as seen earlier in “The Facts”). I switched to pleats rather than gathers for the reach-room ease below the back shoulder placket. I didn’t want any bulk to show from under the sailor flap. I was also very specific as to where that flap ended. Most Navy uniforms had the sailor collar flap end below the point of the shoulder blade, parallel to the armpit. I matched that by merely drawing the back half of the collar wider and longer. Finally, I got rid of the cuffs and made this a straight sleeved shirt.
While I was at it, I traced onto my copy of the pattern all the original markings for the second shirt view – a rounded lapel dress shirt with a full collar stand and pleated cuffs. If I am going to invest such effort in perfecting the pattern copy, at least it should be worthwhile for more than just a niche style like a sailor shirt, I figured. As impeccably as I now see the sailor shirt fit him, I am determined to return to this design very soon to make a truly vintage style dress shirt for my little man. I am picturing this in a bold striped cotton to give it a very late 1920s feel. However, when cutting out the shirt, I realized that the width of the shirt is the exact same circumference as the pillowcases I used. When cutting out his shirt, I was able to eliminate the side seams because the front and back pattern pieces overlapped. This finding opens up a world of possibilities for some exciting re-fashioning ideas. Perhaps I can find two more pillowcases that match well enough together but also contrast. Then, I can whip up a unique and fun means to do something different with a pillowcase but also make it ridiculously easy to sew a new handmade shirt for my son’s wardrobe! I can’t wait to try out either idea.
I don’t know about you, but I feel that a good laugh and a smile is something we all need in abundance today. I hope this post of young Popeye in his distinctive sailor shirt brought you a bit of brightness to your day…and a reminder to eat your spinach to be strong!
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